Long-rangers go the distance

In an era of intense defending, accuracy from afar is becoming a key tactic and spectacular scores are set to continue with Kildare setting the trend

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ith nine minutes remaining in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, Down were ahead by five points and seemingly cruising when Kildare’s comeback was ignited by Hugh Lynch. The midfielder was just inside the 45m line near the Hogan Stand sideline when he landed an inspirational point. Two minutes later, Lynch kicked an even better score when he boomed a missile over the bar from 53 metres.

Lynch’s efforts might have seemed like desperation, almost going for ‘Hail Mary’ shots, but long-range point taking was a huge part of Kildare’s game last summer. When they kicked 1-15 against Monaghan in the Round Four qualifier, eight Kildare points were brilliant long-range efforts. Two of those from James Kavanagh were in the top 15 scores of the championship. It wasn’t just a trend to Kildare’s game though, because the quality of long-range point-scoring throughout last year’s championship really underpinned the season. It almost officially